


Not a Real Skull

by aeruh



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, I love them though, Jean's a dork, M/M, Marco is too, Strong Language, briefly, they're both dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8041345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeruh/pseuds/aeruh
Summary: Jean has a crystal skull, which he has lovingly dubbed "Matthew."Marco doesn't like it very much.





	Not a Real Skull

"...going to be honest, Jean, it's kind of creeping me out."

Sleepily, Jean lifted his head from where it had been resting on Marco's bare chest. He squinted up at the tan boy and frowned. Why did Marco have to go and talk? Jean was almost asleep, and now it was ruined.

"Wha..."

"The skull," Marco explained, shifting almost uncomfortably. Jean almost thought it was something _he_ had done, until he realized Marco was trying to put some space between himself and the object angled towards them on the bedside table.

Jean was beginning to come to his senses, slowly. Groaning, he reached across his boyfriend to pick up the object on the table, holding him (yes, him, and Jean would address the object as such no matter how much Marco complained about it) carefully in the palm of his hand. 

The object was heavy for his size, little larger than a lemon, and in the dim light from the streetlights outside he shone, colors refracting like miniature rainbows across the top. Jean sat up to hold him to his chest. 

"Seriously?" Jean yawned, and rubbed at his eye with one fist. 

"Yes, _seriously._ You have a freaking skull by your bed, Jean. That's creepy." Huffing, Marco propped himself up on one of Jean's many pillows. "Normal people don't have skulls just by their beds."

Offended, Jean clutched the object -- _Matthew,_ he told himself -- to his chest. "Matthew is not creepy!"

In response, Marco only groaned and fell back on the bed, arm over his face. "See?" he protested. "You even named it! _Normal_ people don't name skulls. _Normal_ people don't even keep skulls."

Reaching out, Jean held his most prized possession near Marco's head, despite the fact that Marco couldn't see it in the darkness. Jean was waking slowly by the second, any receding drowsiness leaving him behind and resulting in him feeling very much aware. He reached over Marco again to turn on the bedroom lamp. 

"To start, Matthew's not even a skull. He's a crystal, like the ones we went to go see at the museum. The ones that you _liked._ Also, skulls aren't creepy. They're bone. We all have them. And normal people are boring anyway. Why would I want to be like them?" 

But his words seemed to have no effect on his boyfriend. "Yeah, we have skulls, but they're _under_ our skin and we never see them." 

Jean was about to give up. He groaned, flopping back down on the bed. The movement caused Marco to bounce a little on the mattress beside him, and he whined. 

This was something Jean refused to admit defeat to, he decided. Not when Matthew was involved. He rolled over to face the other, and held Matthew in front of his face, close enough that Marco had to cross his eyes to see the crystal skull. 

"You've seen skulls before. There's a skeleton in that god-damned anatomy class you insisted on taking."

Shifting uncomfortably, Marco tried to get as far back as he could without falling off the bed (and cracking the back of his _own_ skull open on the table.) "It's staring at me," he said, his lips pulling into a frown that verged on pouting. 

In response Jean only brought it closer to Marco's face. " _He_ doesn't even have eyes," Jean huffed, emphasizing the pronoun. "Can't stare at you if he doesn't have eyes."

" _Jean._ You know what I mean. Please put it away. I don't care if it's under the bed or in your closet or wherever. Just not where I can see it, I can't sleep when it's looking at me." 

Marco didn't say anything else, and he threw his arm over his face, groaning tiredly. Jean scoffed. _He_ was the one that woke Jean up when he was almost asleep. Marco had no right. 

"No. Matthew stays on the table. It's his spot. If he bothers you so much, how come you never complained before?"

"I never slept over before. It's not as creepy during the day."

Snuggling down into the black comforter, Jean smirked and pressed his nose against Marco's neck. "What, are you not gonna come over any more?" 

With his face nuzzled up against his partner's warm, tanned body, Jean couldn't see Marco's expression. But he could hear the huff of air that was released from his lungs, and feel the tension in his arms relax. Jean was on safe territory again. 

"...'Fraid it might be so," Marco stated eventually, lighthearted. "It's me or the scary skull, Jean. Who do you love more?"

Well, that was a question that didn't even need to be asked. Jean answered right away. "You, Marco," he said without hesitation. "Nothing else could ever hope to compete." _Not even Matthew._

There was the sensation of an arm wrapping around his waist. "Does that mean you'll put the skull away?" Marco sounded hopeful. 

Jean sighed. "Yes," he answered. "I'll put him somewhere else for the night." And then he stirred, moving to get out of bed and find a temporary home for poor, displaced Matthew. Hopefully he wouldn't mind. After all, it was just one night.

Still, Jean couldn't help but whisper a quick apology as he gently set the crystal skull in one of his dresser drawers, tucking him in a nest of mismatched socks. 

"Jean."

"Yeah, yeah." Jean slid the drawer shut and crawled back into bed, taking up his former spot. Marco curled an arm around him again, burying his face in Jean's hair. 

"...Thank you," the freckled boy mumbled sleepily. 

Jean tried to get closer, and silently cursed his shorter height. "Yeah, no problem, Freckles. Anytime."

The next words out of Marco's mouth were, "Love you." 

Heat rushed to Jean's face, and he sputtered at the unexpected response. But Marco was already asleep, breathing softly as Jean tried to come up with something to say. When Jean realized he was the only one awake, he relaxed slowly and smiled to himself. 

Then he reached up, pressing his lips to Marco's forehead. 

"I love you too... Even if you are a huge, freckled baby."

\---

The next morning, Jean woke up first. He found himself in the kitchen an hour later, cracking open eggs to make omelettes for breakfast when a terrified scream came from the bedroom, followed by uncharacteristic shouting. 

_"JEAN KIRSCHSTEIN, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU WERE THE ONE WHO PUT THAT CREEPY-AS-FUCK SKULL BY THE PILLOW I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR EYES OUT AND PUT THEM IN ITS SOCKETS SO IT CAN STARE ALL IT WANTS."_

Jean laughed and got out plates from the cupboard behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> And then Jean was never seen again.


End file.
